Have Your Cake and Eat it Too – Triumphing over Mediocrity
Mediocrity is for the weak. It’s for those who were tossed aside and forgotten in the process of fighting for greatness. It’s for those who didn’t want to fight as hard because they needed to preserve their own interests, even if it meant giving up their greatest desires.
But greatness is not reserved only for those picked from the top of the genetic pool, chosen by some celestial body or master plan; it is open to anyone willing to put forth the work necessary, and this includes you. And if you are willing—if you are determined—then I have no doubt that you will be rewarded with greatness like never before seen on our little blue marble we call Earth.
Mediocrity is not as much a state of being as it is a state of mind. It is the fear of failure, the fear of success, the fear of confrontation and conflict, it is the fear of walking into uncharted waters that others before you have failed to explore. The mediocre man will think, “If these people can do it, why can’t I?” And then he tries and he fails. Then he sulks back to his cave and wonders what went wrong. He blames everyone else for his failure; he blames society, he blames education—he blames everyone except himself for his lack of success.
But you must understand that failure is a necessary part of any quest for greatness. If you aren’t failing, then you aren’t trying to do anything truly great. In fact, if you never fail at anything, it is because you are avoiding risk and taking the safe route in your life. You are the equivalent of a lion that plays it safe by living off of rodents and never venturing out after better prey; no man will ever give a second thought to such a lion.
The mediocre man thinks that he must play it safe at all times, as he believes there is no reward in taking risks—that risk will get him into trouble, not growth or opportunity. But lacking any catalyst for growth, the mediocre man will never grow better because his motivation is purely selfish. He does not want to fail; he does not want to struggle; he does not want to compete. He just wants to be left alone in his little security blanket of mediocrity.
But you must understand that there is no safety in mediocrity—it is a charade of security. Mediocrity never ensures victory, it merely ensures a lack of defeat. It is a realm that will always make you feel weak; it is a place where you will never feel validated or powerful, no matter how many trophies you may brag about.
Though you may own the bragging rights for whatever it is that you have achieved, I will always know better. Because I will always know that you didn’t earn your victory, that it was handed to you and not taken by merit. And in the end, no one will give a damn about your accomplishments or what others say about you; what really counts is how great you feel about yourself and how much YOU believe in yourself.
Mediocrity is not a mindset that breeds greatness; it’s a mindset that breeds complacency and weakness. The mediocre man will never see his life as anything other than ordinary—or worse, he will see his life as garbage with no value or meaning whatsoever. He will constantly be disappointed in himself and his life, and so will everyone else with him.
But most people only have themselves to blame. If you are one of the majority who don’t have what it takes to break away from mediocrity, who don’t believe in their abilities or themselves, why should anyone else?
No, it is better to die knowing that you took risks; that you gave your all, knowing that you were going to fail at certain points in your life. It is better to know that, at the end of your life, you will be able to look back and be proud of your achievements and what you accomplished with your life. No other outcome would make you happier or more fulfilled than this.
You must remember that if you do not take risks—if you do not dare to fail, then you will never get a chance to succeed. And I mean, really succeed—to win races and games and battles that are far beyond some run-of-the-mill challenge. For it would take nothing less; it would require greatness to overcome the challenges of mediocrity.
The fearful will never take risks; they will never take the chance to break free from their place of low self-worth and mediocrity. You see, mediocrity is a state of mind, a state of belief; it is the mentality that tells you that you are not good enough, that there is no value in achieving greatness. But though you may not realize it now, it’s time for you to rise up from this place where mediocrity takes hold of your mind and heart—this time for incredible things to happen.
I know that above all else, you want to be great at something. You want to be a champion at something; you want to be the best at something. But what happens when you fail? Surely you have experienced failure before. How did it make you feel? I would venture a guess that it made you feel terrible about yourself and your abilities; it made you believe that you were incapable of greatness, or even mediocrity.
Those thoughts are completely misguided, and they need to be changed immediately. You must understand that failure is a necessary part of any quest for greatness. It would be impossible to achieve greatness without experiencing failure throughout the process; it is what allows one the ability to grow stronger and more resilient than before.
Just as running teaches one to grow stronger, to endure pain, and to get over the fear of failure, so does the quest for greatness. You must understand that by holding back from taking risks and by avoiding the process of failure, you are not being safe—you are just waiting for a slow and lonely death inside your own mind.
You want something better: more wealth, more happiness; but with this comes risk. This includes a whole lot of work on your part; you must do whatever is necessary to achieve success. You must work like mad toward this goal—it will be nothing less than blood, sweat and tears.
But you must understand that you have something to gain—more than most people; more than those who will always consider themselves mediocre. If you dare to do things that others would not, if you step out of the mediocrity and take the risks necessary to win the race, then there is no reason why you will not succeed in life. And once this happens, your whole world will change.
You could become wealthy and happy beyond your expectations; or maybe you’ll learn how to do things with this new-found energy that you never even considered possible. Maybe it will be both things at once, as well as something completely unrelated and outside of your imagination.
cONCLUSION
As always, I hope these words have helped you to see that you can do anything that you put your mind to. You can accomplish anything in life; there are no limits or boundaries. If you have the desire and the drive, nothing will prevent you from doing what you want with your life.
You must understand that though there is no going back; though we all must accept the fact that we will eventually die, there is nothing stopping us from living a life of incredible happiness and fulfillment—except for ourselves. We must help each other to be successful by reminding others of their greatness, because most people don’t even realize it yet.